How About That: Digg’s Parent Company Betaworks Buys Instapaper

The company that last year began the unenviable task of working to resurrect Digg and turn it into an Internet powerhouse once more just acquired another property, and it’s one you might actually be using. As of now, New York-based Betaworks is the proud owner of Instapaper.

The company is hoping that the service will complement their upcoming Digg Reader, giving it a better shot at replacing your soon-to-be sorely missed Google Reader. It’s a pretty good bet, too. A simple reader with Instapaper functionality built in so I can send things to my phone and read them at my leisure? Okay, yes, sign me up.

It seems like a win-win, too, as Instapaper developer Marco Arment said in a blog post that he was happy to leave Instapaper in the hands of folks who would care for it and help it grow while he moves on to concentrate on new projects. We’ll take Arment at his word, though we suspect being on the receiving end of what was no doubt a fat check probably didn’t hurt his mood any, either. Arment will also keep advising on the project in the future, which is good news for anyone who uses Instapaper now and isn’t looking forward to sweeping changes, yours truly included.